The persimmon tree did not change leaves color at all in the fall, which is a bad sign, but eventually, they fell off and did not dry on the plant, which is a good sign. I have stored it together with my citruses and other subtropic plants at 10-15°C, but about a month ago I have re-potted it together with my Ulmus parvifolia bonsai because those both started to grow already due to the abnormally warm winter.
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
During that, the plant had very nice and healthy roots. The main root was not overly long and it was not carrot-like at all, which is the worst that can happen. As you can see, it had nice and bushy side-roots on the whole length, an ideal situation. So I have cut off half of the main root and the cut was, again healthy-looking, white and wet. I covered the cut with lots of charcoal and I planted the tree in a wider and shallower pot than it was before
Lastly, I moved it into my room to be able to better control the substrate humidity to avoid root rot. I have expected the tree to wake up in the warmer room and start growing, but so far nothing and it is making me anxious. After all, my Ulmus parvifolia grow like mad despite being in the coldest room in the house.
And today I realized that I need not try and cope with that anxiety alone, so here you have it, now you can be anxious too. Ain’t I grand?
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
The terminal bud is still bright green and the top leaf is soft to touch and that is a good sign.
But it does not grow, dammit. Maybe this tree reacts to daytime length before it starts growth?
The persimmon tree in my backyard has just recently woken up and the leaves are still very small. That’s the variety that you can only eat when it’s totally soft, I also have the other variety that can be eaten in the firm state but that one is not in the backyard and I can’t see it from home. I’ll check on it tomorrow.
Of course that doesn’t mean anything, different country and different conditions altogether, but it always looks to me like persimmons take their time. They only fruit in the fall so I guess they aren’t in a rush?
Update: checked on the other persimmon tree and it doesn’t have leaves yet, just small green buds like in your picture.
Perhaps the repotting has set it back a bit. It looks healthy and happy to me. I hope you’ll let us know when it unfurls.